Bertramka, Historical villa and museum in Smíchov, Prague, Czech Republic

Bertramka is a villa in Smíchov that blends neoclassical and baroque design, surrounded by a garden with several connected buildings. The property now functions as a museum housing personal objects and original musical instruments from the 1700s.

The estate belonged to a Carthusian monastery for centuries; the present villa dates from around 1700, built as a country house with farm and vineyard. In 1784 it was bought by singer Josefa Dušková and composer František Xaver Dušek, whose summer concerts drew Leopold Koželuch and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. After 1838 owner Lambert Popelka had a Mozart bust placed in the garden and left the two Mozart rooms as a shrine.

The name Bertramka comes from Františka and Franz von Bertram, who bought the estate in 1743. From 1784 Josefína Dušková, a celebrated singer, and her husband František Xaver Dušek hosted weekly summer concerts here; guests included Leopold Koželuch, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and possibly Giacomo Casanova. Since 2010 the Dušek singing competition for young musicians has held its winners' concert here each year.

Bertramka has been closed to the public since 2021 and stands in near-derelict condition, so visits cannot be planned. The two-winged staircase in front of the main facade was repaired between November 2016 and June 2019, but the building has not been heated for years. The grounds lie beyond the former city walls on the northern slope of Černý vrch, about a mile from the centre.

Mozart's surviving letters never mention staying at Bertramka; he recorded lodging at the Thun-Hohenstein palace in Malá Strana in 1787, and the villa lay outside the city walls, so only occasional visits are likely. A lock of Mozart's hair was among exhibits lent by the Czech Museum of Music.